COPA’s official spokesman Chris Hadfield is to be inducted in Canada’s Walk of Fame during a ceremony to be held at the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts in Toronto on December 1.

The former astronaut and International Space Station commander told his hometown newspaper the Sarnia Journal, “This honour is like getting a lovely, delicious break of a dessert as a surprise in the middle of the day”. The Ontario native went on to say, “The root of the word celebrity is celebrate,” he added. “You are being recognized for doing the things you thought were important – that others judged to be worthy.”

Col. Hadfield (ret’d) served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 35 years, becoming one of its top test pilots during that time. Later he was also named the Top Test Pilot in both the US Air Force and the US Navy. Hadfield was the first Canadian to ‘walk in space’, helped to build the Russian Mir space station, and assisted in the installation of the Canadarm 2.

Now retired, Hadfield currently serves as an adjunct professor at the University of Waterloo, among other activities such as authoring best-selling books and making public appearances.

Earlier this year Hadfield and his brother Dave put on a concert in Oshkosh for attendees of Air Venture 2018, and later mingled with COPA members at the COPA booth.